Too early? Not for First State Focus’s hunger for Delaware-related photography. Both are exhibits originated by the museum, and both feature local or regionally-connected photographers.

First up is “Fashion, Circus, Spectacle: Photographs by Scott Heiser” in March, 2014. Heiser (1949–1993) was born and raised in Wilmington before leaving for New York City and work in publications where assignments gave him access for his photography. Preview images reveal high contrast prints with deep shadows of the “wide range of public entertainments” he shot. Runway fashion shows were a favored subject. Heather Campbell Coyle, museum Curator of American Art has taken the role of producing Heiser’s first retrospective.

Debuting in October of 2014 will be “Nature Morte: Platinum Prints by Bruce Katsiff.” Katsiff works in large-format arrangements of remains of animals – “skulls, skeletons, bones, and feathers” – and other objects in platinum and palladium prints that are aptly described as resembling cabinets of curiosities. The museum’s website shows images that are a stark departure from Heiser’s in both subject and printing – they have a range of tones with soft contrast and depict studied, still moments, not grainy, frenetic action-oriented events.

Neither photographer brings a household name with their work, and these are not attention-grabbing, blockbuster-type exhibitions that can reliably bring crowds to museums. Instead, they fulfill a noble pursuit for any arts institution: to champion the lesser-know, lesser-seen art around us today.